Tibetan Weddings
September 19, 2011 by Jeanine
If the bride or groom leaves the house there is not really a party. People are actually rather sad. They do not always wear nice clothes and the women often are crying. But the family where the groom or bride marries into is happy and celebrates that. At the same time they are considerate towards the other family when they are visiting each other.
The arranged marriage, which is set up by the parents, is becoming less common. Yet this is still in practice among both Tibetans and Chinese. The underlying tension of arranged marriages is getting bigger though. Among Tibetans are many divorces - with all the grief that comes from that. This is usually worse for women, because they are left behind, often without her child since that is claimed by (the family of) the man. If they do receive the responsibility for the child, a poor life will be her part because another man will most certainly not marry her.
Excitingly enough most of the marriages we visited this month the parters had chosen each other and the parents agreed in the arrangement. Both families (of the bride and groom) therefor had happy celebrations even though the brides were sold to the grooms' family. Happy celebrations in Tibetan culture include meat, sweets, colorful traditional garments and singing accompanied by a mandolin.
